Archives

Archives

Weaponry and Armor

(more to come….)

We’re not talking here about anything real enough to even think about wearing on the tourney field, or even in a kid boffer tourney. This is stuff that they can wear to not hurt themselves on, but to participate by pretending.

Having raised 5 boys, who turned my hair grey long before they hit adulthood, (they all made it….) I know just how fast kids can damage themselves and each other. The best we can do is try to make it hard enough to hurt themselves to keep them safe, while letting them Live the Dream.

No wooden or hard plastic weapons! That’s asking for it. It’s adorable to see little Janie go running around screeching with a wooden sword and a two-horned helmet, but as soon as she bashes Johnny from the next camp, it’s two upset kids and parents in the emergency room!

I’m not too sure about this cute little Roman’s armor, either, honestly. I think this would be far more useful for showing off than for playing in.

Safety

Teach your children “hold” as soon as they can toddle. You’ll need it for more than playtime.

Make them an “eric” just for their own use, and as soon as some of them can handle the idea, make some of them “marshals” to supervise. Marshal’s staves can be made of pool noodle in traditional colors.

Teach that hitting someone else when not in the eric with a marshal is an absolute no-no.

Teach them chivalry and to take a blow that’s good and to not hit too hard or to strike in anger….

OTC IN-16/119

…and we’ve had injuries with both wooden and plastic swords, one that came perilously close to one boy’s eye and several that required stitches, a couple of which were from the sword in this set. There was another in a boffer tourney where a boy took a *hard* blow in the “‘nads” that required hospitalization…

My suggestions are: cardboard, pool noodle, closed-cell foam and a lot of duct tape and weapons should be *just* barely rigid enough to stand up, but not rigid enough to damage, so don’t glue too many layers of cardboard together. Quilted fabric tabards with a belt don’t need too many sizes to fit this size and should keep kids from bruising. One pediatrician suggested the use of shop goggles and foam doughnuts over the ears as kids get more enthusiastic. Those can be disguised with a quilted fabric hood, which will also protect the throat.

Wrap/compression injuries are also possible, so make the weapons as short as you can manage.

Disclaimer …and these are just suggestions. Only you can keep your child safe…. or as safe as they’ll let you!